Tony Bourdain dead at 61 (suicide)

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Terrible, sad news today. I woke up to hear my wife telling me of this news. He felt like a personal friend even though I never met him. For years now, my wife and I made a habit of watching one of his shows with some wine after dinner on Saturday nights. We have many of the DVDs, and the remainder we have on Amazon video. His show was great on many levels: he was funny, witty, insightful, and made us laugh; he made us aware of other cultures and cuisines in far-flung locales (including some places many would turn their noses up at); and, he was a champion of the poor, the oppressed, and their cuisine. He never shied away from countries and experiences that most of us would pass on (or would be too afraid to try): Lebanon, Gaza, bungee jumping, cliff diving, getting tattooed, etc, etc.

Much more could be said of course. My wife (gourmet cook) is a huge fan of his books, and I am now interested to read them myself. We ate at Les Halles in NY many years ago--unfortunately, we did not meet him (was not even trying to), but I remember drinking about eight huge glasses of ice water because it was so hot that day!

One thing that stood out about him was how he could make nearly any destination fascinating! Many places I would never think of visiting (And we are huge travel enthusiasts!), he made enchanting and inviting--often more due to the people than any grandiosity of the landscape. Everyone knows places like France, Italy, Japan offer incredible culture, scenery, and food, but Uruguay? Absolutely my favorite show of his ever! Detroit? Incredible! Oman? Never gave it a thought, now we want to visit! We almost just cherry-picked a few episodes from the latest Parts Unknown seasons, but I decided to buy all of them, and we are watching all of them, because, he always had something interesting and insightful in store.

Tony made the world a smaller place (in the best sense), and a better place! We will miss you Tony!

[Ken B]

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

— E A Robinson

[Hollywood]

Sad news indeed.    I really enjoyed his way of introducing his viewers to the world beyond our own, its people and the foods they loved to share with him. One of my favorite episodes was when he came to Austria where he visited other cities as well as Vienna. You really can't rely on seeing only the most famous city of a country but you learn so much more about the country he was visiting when he would go to other Austrian cities as well where the people and their favorite foods are totally different. I would learn so much about the places he visited just from the way he interacted with the people by sharing their foods and drink. He made it interesting and fun. He will be missed. 

Here he is in Vienna enjoying a Jägertee.

[zamyrabyrd]

This short clip was made two years ago. the first part is rather shocking:

https://www.youtube.com/v/txzcQhE-p0s

[drogulus]

     Writer of viral Olive Garden review grateful for Bourdain

Hagerty, who's 92, said she enjoyed meeting Bourdain, whom she described as "handsome." She said they talked for a couple of hours about her life, North Dakota and a birthday party he held for his daughter, who was 5 at the time.

"You just would like to sit and have coffee with him, or booze, or whatever he's having," she said. "To me, he was a warm person, and you liked to spend time with him because he was interested. He wanted to talk about me and my home ... he just didn't talk about himself and his interest in food."

She went on to say: "It was just like talking to a friend."

     

[snyprrr]

This short clip was made two years ago. the first part is rather shocking:

https://www.youtube.com/v/txzcQhE-p0s

arkanicide?